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Monday, July 16, 2012

Texas Gas Drilling: New Energy Roads Help Narcos Bypass Border Stops

Borderland Beat

Gas drilling is a boom for traffickers too....Paz, Chivis

The road where the drugs were found was one of many that have been leased to energy companies.
/ U.S. Border Patrol

Energy companies boring into the depths of South Texas in
the multibillion-dollar hunt for natural gas and oil are opening a growing
fissure in U.S.-Mexico border security as they build hundreds of miles of
private back roads and an uncharted pipeline to America for drug traffickers.

Hefty roads running through once-remote ranchlands now
enable loaded-down tractor-trailers and pickups to avoid Border Patrol highway
checkpoints that have long been the last line of defense for stopping all
traffic headed farther into the United States.

Traffickers are seeking to use the southwest-most
stretches of the massive Eagle Ford shale formation, which stretches from
Mexico all the way to East Texas, to their advantage by trying to corrupt truck
drivers, contractors and gate personnel. Authorities also speculate that they
are trying to make "cloned" copies of legitimate trucks and use
contractor-like vehicles to avoid standing out among fleets of oil-field
service vehicles working for energy companies. In some cases, vehicles have been
stolen and believed to have been used by smugglers.

"They are using those roads to transport drugs,
guns, ammo, you name it," said Albert DeLeon, chief deputy of the Dimmit
County sheriff's office.

White House warned

The South Texas High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, a
coalition of state and federal law enforcement agencies, sent a threat
assessment to the Office of National Drug Control Policy at the White House in
June warning that the shale boom is enabling traffickers to bypass so-called
choke points, where the Border Patrol has traditionally been able to stop and
question all traffic on highways leading from the border region.

"Our biggest concern is how law enforcement is going
to attack the threat. We cannot move Border Patrol checkpoints into those
positions," said Tony Garcia, director for the South Texas HIDTA. "It
is pretty much up to your imagination what they could be moving through there.
... It is a bit of a dicey situation for us to deal with. We are putting our
heads together."

For energy companies, the roads are critical to moving
heavy drilling and related equipment in and out of the ranchlands where the
work is done.

"Once they get past the checkpoints, they are pretty
much free," said Javier Pena, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's
Houston division, which includes San Antonio and reaches to the Mexican border.

"It is very much on our radar," Pena said of
smugglers. "We have been gearing up for it."

He declined to discuss the use of sensors, cameras or
other tactics to monitor possible narcotics routes. Authorities also suspect
that gate guards, drivers or other workers might succumb to bribes.

"There will be employees who think they can make a
quick thousand or 15 or 20 thousand (dollars)," Pena said. "Once
money is involved, someone will always go for it."

﻿

Traffickers avoid highway check points by usig leased energy roads

Drugs intercepted

On a weekday morning in early March, 18,665 pounds of
marijuana were caught being smuggled aboard two trucks, one a flatbed, the
other a tanker truck driving through the Briscoe Ranch on a road that
circumvents a Border Patrol checkpoint.

They were on a private road leased to energy companies
and carrying what looked like supplies typically used in oil field operations
but were instead loaded with marijuana. The two trucks yielded the most pot ever
caught in one day by the Border Patrol's Del Rio Sector.

One of the truck drivers, who was not an employee of the
energy industry, later admitted to agents that he was to be paid $7,500 to
deliver the load, according to an affidavit at the federal courthouse in Del
Rio.

Other big South Texas catches came in July last year when
Border Patrol agents stopped a bogus oil field truck carrying 1,373 pounds of
marijuana, and in June when they found 3,529 pounds of the drug stashed in a
truck driven by an energy company worker.

Robert Fuentes, agent in charge of the Border Patrol
station in Carrizo Springs, said agents are working to educate energy companies
and employees on possible encounters with drug traffickers or undocumented
immigrants.

"They are our eyes and ears out there," he
said. "They are in the middle of no place."

Deb Hastings, executive vice president of the Texas Oil
& Gas Association, serves on a council that advises Texas' governor on ways
to coordinate the needs of the private sector with those of security.

"Safety and security are top priorities for oil and
gas operators in Texas," Hastings said in a prepared statement.

But the explosion of activity also has brought new
economic prosperity.

"It has been incredible, hundreds of jobs have been
created," said Webb County Judge Danny Valdez, whose county spans 3,360
square miles and borders three Mexican states. "As a county, we depend on
these revenues, we welcome it."

At the same time, he conceded that law enforcement in his
county is already stretched.

"Webb County is a vast land," he said. "We need to find a way to work together."

21 comments:

I guess you guys just showed us why the zeta cartel is still fighting so strong. These are their stomping grounds. I hate to say it but previous posts may be right about cds becoming extinct. Good bye chinolas it's chapos fault for calling so much attention and trying to chew more than he can swallow

HA HA my ass, a lot of us good ole boys work down in that mess and should get combat pay so you folks can keep using ur make up and driving ur autos. Send in the Guard to protect us or we will take matters into our own hands , I know I can shoot way better than they can.

It's called Google Earth. Buy the seevice and you can access weekly satalite pictures and even request certain images. I'm going to assume these guys figured this out already and are at least as smart as my five year old.

Deep south texas is notorious for big load of marijuana especially in starr county. Cloned vehicle isnt anything new these guys come up with crazy ideas to try to be a step ahead of law enforcement, but they are always ready to battle whatever comes thier way. Those trailers got caught awhile back cause the drivers fucked up.

MISSION - A Mission store owner is concerned for the community after thieves stole two dozen weapons.

"We have 24 handguns, one long gun out there, in the wrong hands," said the store owner, who didn't want to show his face on camera.

Police released surveillance footage from the Southwest Hay and Feed.

"They seemed like they knew what they were doing. They knew what they wanted," said...

The group appears well coordinated and determined. After trying unsuccessfully to get in through the roof and an office window, they turned to a commercial truck parked on the property. The group cleared a path and the driver tore through the outer barn door.

Once inside the warehouse, a fifth suspect jumped into a pickup truck. They rammed another door, triggering the burglar alarm.

The cameras didn't capture the moment all five thieves fled with a small arsenal of weapons.

The store owner said his guns can be replaced, but a sense of security isn't as easy to get back.

"It's not just a story. This is a real need for the public to come forward and help us out in solving this case in order to safeguard everybody. Because we are for safety and we are for the community," said the store owner.

The store owner and police are hoping the video will provide leads in the investigation.

Mission Police Chief Martin Garza said the weapons are already in a state and national database for stolen weapons. Valley bridges are on alert, as are police officers.http://www.krgv.com/news/concerned-store-owner-looking-for-public-s-help-in-gun-theft-case

ETB you are the bomb! when i see all kinds of posters here on BB it is rare that you see anyone doing anything more than lip service. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." It was born in Burke's speech of 23 April 1770, "Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents," delivered to the House of Commons.

There is absolutely No reason this is taking place. The U.S. government has the means and the responsibility to put a stop to this. As soon as we get rid of Holder and Napaletono, and Get an administration in office who believes the Border should be defended, this will stop. We have a trained military and national guard who are returning home and need jobs. It is time to use them along with all the technology and fire power available to stop this invasion. The American people are finally becoming aware of the danger on our borders. The Media and the Government has been silent for too long about this problem. It will not happen over night but It Will Stop. America is Not Mexico, the people will Not tolerate this invasion for long.

Recently, someone I know was chased down doing 100 miles per hour in the middle of no where. My point is, that people are too affraid to say anything. We need military. The guy who got chased down quit his job. It wasn't worth the risk. And let's not forget to mention people who have been shot & their rig welders stolen.

Theres the Nueces strip, and theres another narco crossing road from san jose ranch to indio Tx they use the energy company private oil rigs road to carrizo avoiding imigration check point, theres another narco crossing in laredo the camino del real old san antonio road.